Realistic Ways to Disconnect From Your Devices

In an age where the average person taps, swipes, or clicks their phone over 2,600 times per day, learning how to disconnect from your devices is essential. For students and educators, screen overload is harming focus, mental health, and academic outcomes.

Why It’s Crucial to Disconnect From Your Devices

Digital overload is a proven stressor. Teens now spend over 7 hours a day on screens, excluding school tasks (Common Sense Media 2021). This isn’t just about entertainment—constant device use disrupts learning, sleep, and interpersonal relationships.

Understanding how to realistically disconnect from your devices helps reverse these negative effects and reclaim attention in an always-on world.

Want to learn more about healthy screen use in education? Visit our EdTech Balance Guide.

Set Up Tech-Free Zones to Help You Disconnect From Devices

Creating screen-free environments can reinforce healthy digital behavior. Whether at home or in the classroom, these zones reduce distractions and improve attention.

Examples:

  • Ban devices during meals or in bedrooms.
  • Use “Do Not Disturb” signs for designated reading or study hours.

Why it works: A 2016 study found screen-free zones reduce cortisol and enhance memory function (Kushlev et al. 2016).

For examples of how schools implement tech-free classrooms, check out this Edutopia article on reducing cell phone use.

Use Built-In Tools to Help Disconnect From Your Devices

Digital well-being apps are now built into most devices, helping users track and limit screen time.

Top tools:

  • Apple Screen Time
  • Android Digital Wellbeing
  • StayFocusd (Chrome)
  • Freedom App

These features make it easier to manage digital habits and support your efforts to disconnect from your devices.

Try a Weekly Digital Detox to Disconnect

Scheduling a “digital sabbath”—24 hours without non-essential device use—can help break unhealthy patterns.

How to start:

  • Begin with 4–6 hours and increase weekly.
  • Replace screen time with books, nature walks, or journaling.

This practice is gaining traction in schools as part of broader wellness programs (Syvertsen 2020).

Looking to unplug with your family? The Digital Wellness Lab provides science-backed guides for parents and kids.

Turn Off Notifications and Disconnect From Constant Pings

Turning off non-essential notifications helps reduce the urge to check your phone.

Turn off:

  • Social media
  • News
  • Email alerts

Keep only:

  • Emergency contacts
  • Calendar reminders

Studies show that disabling push alerts improves attention and lowers anxiety (Alter 2017).

Build Micro-Habits to Replace Device Use

The key to truly disconnect from your devices is creating purposeful replacement habits.

Ideas:

  • 5-minute breathing exercise
  • Quick walk around the block
  • Writing in a physical notebook

These habits help form positive digital behaviors over time (Fogg 2019).

Use Reward-Based Apps to Encourage Disconnection

Some apps are built to reward you for not using your phone.

Popular options:

  • Forest: Grows trees as you stay offline
  • Flipd: Locks distracting apps
  • Offtime: Filters out interruptions

They use gamification to help users consistently disconnect from their devices—and they work. Research shows app use reduces screen time by 30% (Barkley and Lepp 2020).

Rethink EdTech Use and Reclaim Focus

While EdTech platforms are necessary, overreliance can be overwhelming. Educators and students must find balance.

Recommendations:

  • Use paper-based assignments
  • Keep online lessons under 25 minutes
  • Encourage breaks between sessions

Need more ideas? Read our guide to smarter EdTech integration.

Lead by Example to Inspire Digital Balance

Educators and parents who model healthy device habits influence others to follow.

Start with:

  • Sharing your digital detox efforts
  • Creating group “screen-free” goals
  • Tracking progress together

This communal approach makes the process more fun and effective.

Conclusion: Why It’s Time to Disconnect From Your Devices

Learning how to disconnect from your devices isn’t about quitting tech—it’s about using it with purpose. Whether you’re a student, teacher, or parent, the benefits are tangible: more focus, less stress, and better relationships.

Take the first step today. Even a few minutes of unplugged time can restore balance in your digital world.

References

  1. Common Sense Media. (2021) The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens, 2021. Available at: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-common-sense-census-media-use-by-tweens-and-teens-2021 (Accessed: 21 May 2025).
  2. Kushlev, K., Proulx, J., & Dunn, E. W. (2016) ‘Silence Your Phones: Smartphone Notifications Increase Inattention and Hyperactivity Symptoms’, Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 1(1), pp. 23-30.
  3. Barkley, J.E. and Lepp, A. (2020) ‘Cell phone use and academic performance: A meta-analysis’, Computers in Human Behavior, 114, article number 106527.
  4. Syvertsen, T. (2020) Digital Detox: The Politics of Disconnecting. Emerald Publishing.
  5. Fogg, B.J. (2019) Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
  6. Alter, A. (2017) Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked. Penguin Press.